- School buses are held to a much higher quality standard than an average vehicle. Every joint in the structure must be stronger and more stable than a normal car. The roof of a school bus is designed to withstand rolling without caving. The fuel tanks on school buses are specially designed to be less likely to leak or break open during a crash, which can cause an explosion. Overall, the federal government has 13 regulations which specify the safety tests a school bus must pass. The laws are much more stringent than those of everyday transportation. In addition, the design of a school bus makes it safer during a crash. Its large structure allows it to absorb impact, protecting the passengers.
- Most school buses do not have seat belts. This is because the seats on buses are designed to absorb the impact of a crash and they are designed also to cushion the child between the seats. Seats on a school bus are purposely close together. This is called compartmentalizing. Each seat serves as a safely cushioned protective zone for the child. Repeated studies by the National Highway Traffic Safety Association have shown that children are hurt more by the seat belt than by the crash itself.
- Traffic accidents account for over 42,000 deaths every single year in the United States. On average, only 10 of those deaths occur on school buses and 25 percent of those deaths are bus drivers, not children. That means that somewhere between seven and eight children die in school bus accidents each year. The death of a child is never good, but compared to the 42,000 people who die in cars and trucks, this number is very small. This means that a child is indeed safer riding to school on a school bus than in Mom's SUV.
- Preschoolers need to be restrained in car seats. Even on school buses, the compartmentalizing that holds school age children in place will not work for smaller children. In response to this safety need, buses are being fitted with the LATCH system. The LATCH system involves small hooks in the seat of a vehicle. A special strap loops through the child safety seat and snaps onto the hooks. This is done in place of using a seat belt to restraint the child's car seat. Seat belts can fail in a car accident, the LATCH system will not. This protects the child from being thrown from the vehicle in an accident. Small children who ride a school bus should be seated in a five point harness seat that is properly restrained in the bus with the LATCH system.
- The National Coalition for School Bus Safety (NCSBS) disagrees that school buses are safe, despite all the research that says they are. NCSBS says that even seven deaths per year is too many and they are striving to create ways to make school buses safer. They believe that seat belts should be required on all school buses, regardless of evidence that seat belts are harmful for young children. Although many states are pushing for laws that say children should be in a five-point harness car seat until age eight because seat belts can do more harm than good, the NCSBS insists that children are best off being restrained while on the school bus.
